It's You Or The Kid
by Ms.K216
Summary: Two crimes are happening at the same time in Swellview, so Captain Man and Kid Danger decide to split up to get things taken care of. When Kid Danger arrives at the scene of one of the crimes he soon finds out that it's more than he can handle on his own. Will Captain Man be able to stop the other crime and find Kid Danger before something terrible happens to him? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _This is my first attempt at writing for Henry Danger, so let me know how I'm doing in a review if you would be so kind! Thank you in advance, I really appreciate the feedback._

 **Note:** _This story doesn't really have a specific time it's taking place because I'm making the crimes up myself. In my head I picture Henry looking the way he does in season one where he is really small compared to Ray._

* * *

The sound of Henry's watch going off woke him up from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. At first he was too tired to really realize what he was hearing, but after a few more minutes and another round of loud beeping he finally put two and two together.

"What do you want Ray?" Henry answered, squinting against the sudden brightness as a hologram of his boss popped up.

"Did I wake you?" Ray asked, watching as Henry yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Well yeah." The boy answered, leaning over to look at the clock on his bedside table. "It's 2:30 in the morning."

"Well danger doesn't sleep and neither should you!" Ray told him, laughing a little before turning serious again. "No, but really I need you to get over here right away, it's important. Bring your gum." Henry sighed heavily and got out of bed.

"On my way." He told Ray before closing his watch again. The boy contemplated changing into real clothes instead of showing up to work in his pajamas, but after giving it a second thought he decided that Ray was lucky enough that he was even going to show up given the time of night. "I'll give him danger never sleeps." Henry grumbled as he grabbed his gumballs from behind the picture frame on his wall and trudged over to his window. About fifteen minutes later he let himself into Junk N' Stuff using the spare key Ray had given him and took the ridiculous elevator ride down to the Man Cave where he found Ray sitting around playing on his tablet.

"Oh good, you're here." Ray said, getting up from his spot on the couch. "Are you wearing pajamas?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh… okay then." Ray shrugged, going over to the auto-snacker to get a small basket of cheesy fries. Henry shook his head, he didn't come all the way over here for a midnight snack.

"Uh, where's Charlotte and Schwoz?" The boy asked, looking around the empty Man Cave.

"Henry, it's almost three in the morning." Ray scoffed, looking at Henry like the idea of anyone else being there was insane. "I wasn't going to wake them up for no good reason."

"I'm starting to think you woke _me_ up for no good reason."

"No, _you_ I had a reason for waking up. Follow me." Ray led Henry over to the control panel and hit a few buttons so the videos he wanted would play. "Cheesy fry?" He offered.

"What?! No!" Henry snapped, shoving the basket away from him. "Just tell me why you called me here!"

"Someone's grouchy." Ray laughed, shoving a few fries in his mouth before pressing play. Henry just glared at him and turned his attention on what the screen was displaying. There were two videos playing; one showed a criminal breaking into the frozen yogurt store, Froyo Freeze, and the other showed someone digging a massive hole right in the middle of Swellview Park.

"Wait… are both of these crimes happening at the same time?" Henry asked, stealing one of Ray's fries as he watched.

"Yes. That's why I called you." Ray explained, taking his tube of gumballs out of his pocket. "Kid Danger can go deal with one of the crimes and Captain Man will take care of the other one." He popped a gumball into his mouth and started to chew.

"Yeah, okay." Henry agreed, popping his own gumball into his mouth. Once he was changed into his Kid Danger gear he started towards the tubes. "I'll go deal with the guy from the park and you go check things out at Froyo Freeze..."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Ray, now dressed as Captain Man shook his head, slowly walking over to the young boy.

"What?" Henry asked, a look of confusion passing his face as he watched his boss.

"Who's the sidekick here? Me or you?" Captain Man asked, crossing his arms smugly. Henry sighed and shook his head, obviously he was used to Ray's antics by now, but he questioned his timing on this one, there were two crimes going on that they needed to deal with.

"I am…" Kid Danger answered flatly, already knowing where this was going.

"You are!" Captain Man repeated immediately after. "Well if _you're_ the sidekick, that would make _me_ the superhero, right?"

"Get to the point Ray, we gotta go."

"I say that _I_ get to go take care of things at the park and _you_ go check out Froyo Freeze." Kid Danger looked at Captain Man incredulously, sometimes he wondered if Ray thought about things before he said them out loud. Did he really think it was better to send Kid Danger to the frozen yogurt store or was he really just being that lazy again.

"But Ray, you're indestructible. Don't you think it makes more sense for-"

"Kid." Captain Man interrupted, holding his hand up to silence his sidekick. "It'll be fine. Trust me." Kid Danger rolled his eyes, experience told him that it was best not to argue with Ray when he got like this. He hasn't won before and he probably wasn't going to win this time, so it didn't make sense to waste any more time.

"Fine." Kid Danger sighed, he just wanted to get this over with so he could get home and go back to bed. "You go to the park, I'll meet you back here afterwards." Captain Man nodded, finally agreeing and getting in position on his pad.

"Call it!" He prompted, looking over to Kid Danger once the tubes lowered over them.

"Up the tubes!"


	2. Chapter 2

Once the two heroes split up it didn't take long for Kid Danger to make it to Froyo Freeze. He knew the way to the store since he'd been there before with Charlotte, Jasper, and even Ray on occasion. When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was that the familiar glass doors the customers usually entered the store through were shattered. Carefully, Kid Danger ducked through the shards and entered the building, it seemed noticeably quiet.

"Hello?" Kid Danger called out, walking further into the seemingly vacant store. The place looked the same as it did during regular business hours except for the slight differences of it being dark without the lights on, and the chairs were sitting on top of the tables instead of on the ground so it would be easier to mop the floor. "Hello?" He called again after a minute. Kid Danger was starting to think that he'd taken too long to get here and that the criminals were long gone. 'Maybe if Ray hadn't made such a big deal about who was taking care of what crime the criminals wouldn't have gotten away!' The boy thought as he made his way behind the front counter and walked into the back room. He didn't expect to find anyone back there, and he certainly wasn't prepared when a pair of arms yanked him backwards and restrained him.

"I guess Captain Man didn't teach you anything about the element of surprise." A large muscular looking man laughed as he held the squirming boy tight against his chest. "Where is he anyway?" He asked as he stole the zapper out of Kid Danger's belt and slipped it into his pocket so it couldn't be used against him later.

"I'm not telling you anything!" Kid Danger growled at him, still struggling against the heavy weight of the man's arms. It was true that the boy still had a lot to learn about fighting and self defense, but he was incredibly loyal to the hero he fought with. Kid Danger wouldn't sell Captain Man out no matter how bad things got for himself.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?" The man pressed his fist into the boy's temple, trying to scare him into revealing Captain Man's location before he really hurt him.

"Hey, Crush, Captain Man's in Swellview Park." A second voice answered from behind where Kid Danger was trapped. The man holding him, who was apparently called Crush, sighed and turned to face the tall, lanky man standing where the entrance to the store used to be. Kid Danger figured that he hadn't heard him come in over the sounds of his own struggling.

"Captain Man is in the park?" Crush shoved Kid Danger into the corner and stood in front of him blocking him from getting up. Chip laughed and fell into place beside his boss, keeping the boy trapped by the wall, the side of the counter, and the two of them.

"If only we had something that was of value to him..." Chip joked, then turned to look directly at Kid Danger. Crush just laughed.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough if we do."

…

"Who could really be stupid enough to dig a hole in the middle of Swellview Park?" Captain Man asked himself as he made it to the edge of the park. The hole had grown in size since he'd seen it on the computer screen back in the Man Cave and he still heard the sounds of digging coming from behind the mound of dirt that was piling up.

"Is someone there?" A tired, breathy voice called.

"Aww come on!" Captain Man shook his head when he saw Jeff peek his head out from the hole he was standing in. He'd wanted to go to the park because it was the easier call, but now that he knew he'd have to deal with Jeff he regretted that choice. "Jeff! What are you doing in there?"

"Digging." Jeff answered, looking at Captain Man as if he were stupid.

"Oh. You were digging." Captain Man nodded in agreement, pretending it was an appropriate answer for a moment before he couldn't take it anymore. " _Why_ are you digging, Jeff?" He asked shortly, taking the shovel out of the man's hand and tossing it out of reach.

"Because I wanted to find Swellview's buried treasure. I found this map." Jeff answered in a hushed voice. "Look!" Captain Man took the piece of paper out of Jeff's hand and sighed impatiently.

"Jeff, this is the back of the kids menu from the frozen yogurt place across town."

"No it's not! You'll see! All of Swellview is gonna see!" Jeff yelled, snatching the so called map back from Captain Man. "Now give me back my shovel. I haven't dug deep enough to find the treasure yet." Jeff frowned when the hero didn't move to fulfill his request. "Fine, I'll get it myself then!" He paused for a second, looking around. "How am I going to get out of here?"

"The police will help you out of there in the morning. Good luck with that treasure…" Captain Man shook his head as he walked away from the hole, as far as he was concerned Jeff was too stupid to do any more damage without his shovel and the police would find him soon enough. Captain Man didn't want to be there when it came time to fill in that hole again so he decided to head back to the Man Cave.

...

"Stop making this harder than it needs to be!" Chip growled, his arms spread wide as he tried to block Kid Danger from escaping. Somehow the tiny boy had managed to outwit the two criminals and had avoided any major injuries up until this point.

"I'm done playing your little games!" Crush yelled from behind, Chip had managed to distract the boy long enough for his boss to gain the upper hand. As soon as Kid Danger realized what happened, he whirled around to face the man and was met with a large fist to the side of the head. Disoriented, the young kid stumbled and Crush took the opportunity to land a kick square to his chest. Kid Danger coughed as the air escaped his lungs and he fell to the floor, gasping for breath. "Get him up!" Crush ordered.

"You heard him! Get up!" Chip hissed, pulling Kid Danger up with little effort. Crush smiled and threw a few jabs at the defenseless boy while Chip held him in place. Each hit that he landed on the kid seemed to fuel his desire to win, a few of the blows were already bruising up, leaving visible marks and welts.

"Running all around the store throwing fruits and mops and paper cups doesn't seem so fun now, does it?" Crush taunted, grabbing Kid Danger away from Chip so he could shove his back into one of the tables. "Let me ask you a question. How much help do you really even give Captain Man!? I bet you're nothing more than someone to take the hard hits for him! Why else would he send you to deal with me all on your own when you could be out saving the park from some idiot digging holes? He doesn't care about you at all. You're a joke to him!" Crush laughed as he let his mean words sink into Kid Danger's head, he was playing mind games with him now.

"That's not true..." Kid Danger frowned, trying not to listen to what Crush was saying, but the evil man could see that he wasn't so sure about what he thought he knew anymore.

"Then where's your hero now little boy?" Crush whispered, watering the seed of doubt he'd planted. Kid Danger's frown deepened as the words echoed in his head, this paired with the pain he was feeling made it impossible for him to think about fighting back.

"Captain Man isn't going to let you get away with this!" Kid Danger choked out through shaky breaths, he needed to hear the words out loud despite knowing deep down that these men were just trying to hurt him with their words.

"Oh, he's not? I don't see him trying to stop me. Do you Chip?"

"No signs of him at all." The man answered, crossing his arms smugly. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he doesn't care about Kid Danger and we're just wasting our time on him."

"Why don't we call him up and find out?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Kid! You're never going to guess who..." Captain Man started saying as he came down his tube, but trailed off when he ended up in the Man Cave and realized Henry wasn't there. "Kid?" He called out, walking further into the room to see if maybe the boy had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him, it _was_ kind of late after all. Captain Man sighed when he didn't see him there. "I guess he left already…" He shrugged, not really giving it a second thought considering Henry had to get to bed because he still had school in the morning. Sleep actually sounded good to the hero now that there were no active crimes for him and Kid Danger to take care of, but no sooner had he changed out of uniform did the emergency alert start flashing. Ray sighed and walked over to the control panel, pressing a few buttons before he answered. "Captain Man Emergency Hotline, this is Captain Man."

"Hello, Captain Man." Crush sneered into his phone camera, glaring through the screen at Ray even though he couldn't see him. "Remember me?"

"Should I remember you?" Ray asked, trying to figure out where he'd seen this man before. Nothing seemed to come to mind as he studied the face, but when the criminal shifted a little bit the background of the frozen yogurt store came into view it made it easy for Ray to guess. "The guy from Froyo Freeze?" He asked, not quite sure what was going on. Ray was still under the impression that Henry had taken care of things there earlier. Crush laughed evilly, shaking his head with somewhat of a smile forming on his lips.

"Maybe you aren't as stupid as I thought." Crush said, passing his phone to Chip so he could shoot the video; it was time for him to make things a whole lot more interesting. "Your little friend here still has quite a bit more to learn though." Crush told the hero as he crouched on the floor beside Kid Danger and yanked his head up by his hair so he would be in frame for the video. "Smile for the camera!" Crush laughed, smooshing the boy's face into a puckered smile when he didn't cooperate. Kid Danger could taste blood as his already split lip started to bleed again but when he tried to get away Crush tightened the grip he had on his hair.

"Kid!" Ray yelled, anger and fear forming a pit in his stomach as he saw the raw looking scratches and darkening bruises on the boy's face, paired with how Crush was still continuing to hurt him even now.

"Aww, isn't that nice!" Crush scoffed, mocking Kid Danger. "Captain Man _does_ care about you! Or maybe… Yeah, maybe he's just good at pretending... " The evil man laughed, letting all of the cruel things he and Chip said about how Kid Danger meant nothing to Captain Man come rushing back into the young boy's head. Kid Danger lowered his eyes in shame and humiliation, begging himself not to cry in front of these men and lose whatever shred of dignity he had left.

"Enough with the games!" Ray growled, his hands balling up into tight fists when he saw the pain the mean words caused Kid Danger. "Let him go!"

"Eh, I don't think so. I can't just _let_ Kid Danger go… I'd need something in return. Something _better_." Crush loosened his hold on Kid Danger just a little bit as he stared into the camera. His expression was as serious as if he were looking directly at Captain Man himself. "Perhaps I could accept the hero instead of his incompetent sidekick..."

"No." Kid Danger managed to choke out, struggling to get away from the man. In that moment it didn't matter to him whether Ray was just using him or not, he didn't want to see his best friend in danger because he'd failed as a sidekick.

"Quiet you!" Crush spat, tightening his grip on Kid Danger's hair again, making him yelp in pain as he pulled out a handful of blonde strands. "It's you or the kid! What's it going to be?"

"Captain Man! Don't come here! It's a trap!" Kid Danger cried, though his words only enraged the criminal.

"I said quiet!" Crush growled, losing his temper and slamming Kid Danger's head against the floor. Ray watched in horrified anger as he watched the boy lose consciousness, laying there vulnerable to anything these men felt like doing to him. Of course Ray would never admit it to anyone out loud, not even to Henry, but he loved his sidekick like a son or even a little brother and felt very protective of him. He would do anything for the boy, even if it meant putting himself right in the line of fire.

"Leave him alone." Ray warned Crush through clenched his teeth, he was angrier than he'd been in long time. There was no doubting that if and when he got his hands on these criminals, they would be in for a world of hurt.

"I-"

"No, I mean it. Don't touch him again." Ray cut him off. His tone was pure ice as he continued to speak, "I am willing to take Kid Danger's place, but if you lay another finger on him between now and the time I get there the deal is off and you'll need to make a stop at the hospital on your way to jail."

"Are you threatening me?" Crush scoffed, all flustered by Captain Man's words. Ray just laughed.

"No, Crush, I'm not threatening you. I'm making you a promise. If you hurt that kid, I'm going to put you in a world of pain."

"Well then." Crush took a few seconds to recover from this, but soon a wicked smile had found it's way back onto his face. "Let me make you my own promise… If you aren't here within the next thirty minutes -or if you try to give us a hard time when you get here- you will have to find yourself a new sidekick."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter to you guys! Right now I'm in the middle of doing my final papers and the presentations that go with them. I don't know if I'll get to post this week because my classes end on Friday and I need to get my assignments done, but I'll try my best to get another chapter to you soon. If I don't post this week I'll definitely have something for you the week after that. Thanks for being so patient and leaving such nice reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

"This is all my fault! He never should have been there alone!" Ray frowned, running his hands through his hair after he hung up with Crush. "He should have been in the park dealing with Jeff!" Ray popped a gumball, transforming into Captain Man as he rushed to the tubes and called it, taking off running once he was out of the Man Cave. He ran faster than he ever had in his life to get to the frozen yogurt store… to get to Kid Danger… before it was too late. When he got there he didn't waste any time trying to keep the element of surprise on his side, he just kicked in whatever glass was left in the already broken door and hurried inside.

"Captain Man." Chip laughed, crossing his arms as he took in the sight of the disheveled hero. "What'd you do, run here?"

"Where's Kid Danger!?" Captain Man asked, trying to push past Chip so he could look for his sidekick in the back. Chip put his hand up to stop him before he made it behind the counter.

"Kid Danger isn't here." He laughed. "Crush knew he couldn't trust you to just come in here and surrender without giving us a hard time, so he took your precious little sidekick back to our hideout." Chip could see Captain Man's anger building as he balled his hands into tight fists, it made him laugh. "No need to get all worked up. I'm sure Crush is going to take care of him." Chip tried to make his words sound innocent, but the evil tone in his laughter gave him away.

With his patience wearing thin, Captain Man grabbed Chip by his shirt and pushed him up against the wall in one fluid movement.

"You are going to take me to him right now." Captain Man growled, trying to intimidate the criminal. Chip just laughed, looking the hero right in the eyes as he spoke, he knew exactly who had the upper hand in this situation.

"I don't think you're in any position to be making demands right now. All I have to do it call Crush and tell him you aren't keeping up your end of the deal and that's it… no more sidekick. Simple as that." Chip smiled triumphantly when he felt Captain Man's grip loosen slightly. "If you surrender right now, I'll take you to see that pathetic blonde loser you seem to care so much about." Captain Man frowned, searching Chip's eyes for any hint that would give away a better alternative than this, but there was nothing. "And maybe I won't tell Crush you gave me a hard time." Begrudgingly, Captain Man released his hold on the criminal's shirt and took a step back, he didn't want anything he did to result in Kid Danger being hurt anymore.

"Alright then, I guess I have no choice… I surrender." Captain Man sighed, taking a few steps away from Chip.

"Good." Chip sneered, taking a pair of handcuffs off of Captain Man's belt. "Turn around!" He demanded, shoving Captain Man towards the door after he secured the cuffs too tightly around his wrists.

…

"Well, here we are." Chip announced, pulling over in front of what appeared to be an auto-repair garage.

"Kid Danger's in there?" Captain Man asked, trying to decide how he wanted to play this.

"Yeah, the kid's in there with Crush." Chip answered carefully. "Remember what will happen if you don't cooperate." He added, shoving Captain Man towards the door. Inside, Crush was sitting there waiting.

"Captain Man." He smiled, pleased to see the hero being delivered to him in handcuffs. "So nice of you to join us!" He nodded in approval after Chip forced Captain Man to his knees so he would be less of a threat. "Good work, Chip. I'm surprised."

"Where's my sidekick?" Captain Man demanded, interrupting the conversation the two men were trying to start. "I held up my end of the deal. I'm here."

"Yes, you're here." Crush answered, standing up. "But, that's not all you promised." He said, getting up from his chair. Crush sighed dramatically, walking around Captain Man in a circle tapping his chin until he was standing face to face with the hero. "What to do, what to do…" Crush laughed a little as he watched Captain Man's face.

"I told you I'd come here to take Kid Danger's place, I'm here now… let him go."

"We'll see." Crush answered confidently, toying with Captain Man. "You didn't exactly keep your promise to go without a fight now did you?"

"No, he did not." Chip answered, smiling smugly at the hero. Captain Man glared at him, he should have known better than to make deals with criminals. "You didn't think I kept secrets from my boss now did you?"

"I didn't hurt him." Captain Man answered, trying to defend himself. Crush rolled his eyes, looking over at Chip.

"What do you think we should do Chip?" Crush started pacing again. "I mean if I were a superhero, I might consider you to be my sidekick. And if that were true it would mean that Captain Man tried to inflict harm to my sidekick." The man plastered the worst look of feigned concern across his face before letting a more sinister smile take it's place. "I think maybe I should return the favor."

"Well isn't that funny, Crush. Captain Man has a sidekick t-"

"Leave Kid Danger alone!" Captain Man warned, not even letting Chip finish his thought. He struggled against his handcuffs angrily as the very idea of these two men hurting Kid Danger went through his mind. All he could think of was how hurt his sidekick had already looked when he saw him on the video call, and that didn't even include what they'd done to him once the call ended. The worst part of all of this was knowing that the boy never would have even been put in that position if it hadn't been for Captain Man's own selfish need to be in charge. Defeated by his own thoughts, the hero stopped struggling for the sake of the thirteen year old boy he needed to protect. "Look… Kid Danger is just a little kid, if you have to hurt someone, hurt me..." Captain Man begged, in the moment he seemed to forget that he was indestructible and that it would be almost impossible for them to let him take his sidekick's place in this way. Chip and Crush exchanged a look for a moment, they weren't exactly expecting this turn of events to unfold and were caught off guard.

"We're going to need to discuss this." Crush answered slowly, then looked back at Chip and tilted his head towards a metal door. Chip nodded waiting for Crush to unlock the door before forcing Captain Man to his feet and pushing him into the room.

"No funny business." Chip warned before taking Captain Man's utility belt and locking him inside. Because the room was dark it took a minute or two for his eyes to adjust, but once they did Captain Man noticed a big heap on the floor towards the back of the room, immediately he knew what it was.

"Kid!" Captain Man called out as he rushed over to the back of the room and dropped onto his knees beside his sidekick. His heart leapt out of his chest when he saw in the dim light that the boy was in even worse condition now than he had been during the video call with Crush. His blonde hair was stained red in the places where Crush had ripped handfuls of strands out, his face was covered with different sized bumps in varying shades of purple and blue, his bottom lip was split and bloody, and the rips and tears in his uniform hinted at other hidden cuts as well. Captain Man clenched his teeth tightly as his anger returned and threatened to take over. How could they have really done this to a little kid? The hero glared at the door, he knew that the people who had done this were somewhere behind it and that sooner or later they were going to come back. There wasn't much Captain Man could do with his hands cuffed behind his back and the looming threat of Crush inflicting further injury to Kid Danger if he didn't cooperate, but that didn't change the fact that he would still do whatever he had to in order to keep his sidekick safe. "Don't worry Kid, I'm not going to let them touch you again."

"Mm…" Kid Danger moaned softly as he started to wake up a little bit. He looked distressed as the pain his sleep had numbed started to return. Fear mixed with his emotions as his eyes slowly started to flutter open and he realized he didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there, but when he saw Captain Man some of that fear turned into confusion. "Captain Man?"

"I'm here, Kid. You're going to be okay." Captain Man shook his head, he knew that Crush and Chip had planted a lot of false ideas in his sidekick's head about him, but he had to believe that the boy knew deep down that none of it was true. "Look, I never meant for any of this to happen. If I had known that the call was going to be so dangerous I never would have sent you. I know what Chip and Crush told you, but it's not true Henr- I mean, Kid Danger…" Captain Man paused for a couple of beats, letting the words hang. "You know, you're the best sidekick a superhero could ever ask for and I- " He was cut off mid sentence when the sound of the door swinging open and slamming into the wall echoed through the room. Without even thinking about it Captain Man shifted a little so his body was shielding Kid Danger from whatever was about to happen.

"I've made my decision." Crush announced, staring daggers at Captain Man.

"What decision?" Kid Danger asked, looking up at his boss.

"Captain Man wants to play hero and take your place here and I've decided I'm going to let him… under one condition."

* * *

 **A/N: No excuses, I should have updated sooner but things came up. I'm hoping that I can update again soon. Thank you for all the nice reviews and comments you've been leaving for me, I appreciate all of them! I hope you liked the chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

"What condition?" Captain Man asked, glaring at the man standing in the doorway. He didn't seem to be afraid of anything Crush could come up with, but part of him wondered what tricks he and Chip could possibly have waiting for him.

"Come with me and you'll find out." Crush answered. "Or don't… it's up to you." He added, looking past Captain Man at the exhausted and drained looking boy laying on the floor beside him. It was almost as if Crush was reminding the hero why he'd asked for this trade in the first place. "My offer won't last forever."

"No." Kid Danger tried to protest, as weak as he was he still didn't want to let Captain Man down, but the hero ignored him already starting to get up. The boy attempted to reach out to try and stop his friend from leaving, but he didn't have enough strength in him. Captain Man frowned seeing this, it was exactly why he felt like he had to trade places with the boy. He couldn't risk letting these villains hurt Kid Danger anymore, especially when the boy was too drained to even protect himself.

"It'll be alright Kid." Captain Man whispered, trying to reassure him with a small smile. The boy wouldn't let it go though, he believed that as the sidekick it was his job to protect his boss, not the other way around.

"But Captain Man - " Kid Danger tried, but the hero raised a hand to silence him.

"I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, you _think_ you know what you're doing!" Crush interrupted. "Now get out here before I change my mind!"

"Alright, alright… I'm coming." Captain Man shook his head and walked out of the room, turning to look at his sidekick for as long as he could before Crush shut and locked the door. The pain and worry in the boy's eyes made the pit of guilt in Captain Man's stomach grow. "You said you'd let him go…"

"Don't worry, I'll let him go after I'm finished dealing with you. We can't let you get any ideas about escaping and as long as we have him I know you'll cooperate." The man laughed, shoving Captain Man in the direction he wanted him to go, leading him into another room where Chip was waiting with two visitors.

"Sit down." Crush ordered, forcing Captain Man into a hard wooden chair that was waiting for him in the middle of the room. As soon as he was seated, Chip came over and took the hero's handcuffs off and replaced them with restraints that had been affixed to the arms of the chair. Chip twirled the keyring around on his finger as he walked across the room, absentmindedly placing the key down on the desk across the room as he leaned against it.

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Captain Man asked, trying to distract anyone else from noticing the key. "Why are they here?" He questioned. The 'they' in this case was referring to Dr. Minyak and his assistant, Nurse Cohort. The hero hadn't even been aware that Crush and Chip knew any of the other villains in Swellview, he thought they were too new to have any connections.

"Well Captain Man, this is where that condition I was talking about comes into play." Crush announced, taking a few steps closer to the hero. "Now, it's up to you. This is your last chance to say 'forget it, there's no way I'm agreeing to that' and I'll let you go on your merry way. Simple as that… but you know what that choice would mean for your precious little sidekick..." Crush paused for a moment then, dramatically shifting his head back and forth as he pretended to think about something. "On the other hand, if you agree to my condition I would let Kid Danger go unharmed as soon as we're done."

"Just get to the point already!" Dr. Minyak yelled, he looked like he was getting increasingly more impatient.

"Why are you even here?" Captain Man asked, looking to the evil doctor for answers.

"They are here because they have the very thing I need to take your indestructibility." Crush answered, matter of factly. He brought his hands together, letting his fingertips tap together menacingly. "That's my condition. Lose your power or lose your sidekick, the choice belongs to you!" Crush watched with a wicked smile on his face as Captain Man's eyes went wide, fear momentarily finding it's way onto the hero's face before he masked it with something else.

"That's been tried before and it didn't work. Why bother attempting to do it again?" Captain Man asked, trying not to let on that he was digging for information.

"Because this time there are no more Jolly Beetles around for you to restore your power." Dr. Minyak answered with an evil cackle. "There was still enough spray left over from last time that all we had to do was worry about where we'd left the bottle it was in."

"Without those beetles, there won't be anything you can do. You'll be... destructible." Chip laughed. "If you're able to get hurt you won't be a threat to us or any of the other villains in Swellview. We can commit any crime we want!"

"But, I mean if you'd rather keep your power… the very thing that makes you a hero… we would be happy enough finishing your sidekick off instead." Crush told him, trying to nudge him in the direction of giving up his power. Captain Man frowned, thinking back to the last time he'd lost his indestructibility. Last time, he'd essentially given up on being Captain Man and stayed on the couch where it was safe. He believed he couldn't be a hero anymore if he didn't have his superpower and in the end he was willing to risk everything to get his power back. The look on the faces of the four villains standing before Captain Man told the hero that they could easily guess what thoughts were going through his head. Out of the corner of his eye Captain Man saw Chip pick up a piece of pipe off the floor and shift his weight towards the door, the hero realized he was waiting to go find Kid Danger. As much as Captain Man didn't want to say the next words he was thinking out loud, he would never forgive himself if he didn't.

"Take my power." He whispered, not looking at any one of the four people in the room.

"Wait, what?" Crush asked, not sure he'd heard right. "You're really going to give up your indestructibility for some stupid kid?"

"Don't question it!" Dr. Minyak yelled, a wicked smile making its way onto his face. "We're getting what we want." Without waiting for Crush or Chip to agree, Dr. Minyak turned to Nurse Cohort and ordered her to spray Captain Man. The woman nodded and calmly crossed the room in a few graceful steps and without hesitation, sprayed the mixture of Jolly Beetle tears in Captain Man's face. The three other men watched, waiting to see if something happened.

"Did it work?" Crush wondered out loud, looking over to Dr. Minyak for some sort of confirmation or explanation. Chip interrupted before the man had a chance to respond.

"There's only one way to know for sure." He smirked, swinging the pipe he held in his hand as he walked up to Captain Man. When Chip got within striking distance he stopped, pausing for a second to laugh in Captain Man's face. "I hope this hurts." He said before pulling the pipe back and swinging as hard as he could.

"Ow!" Captain Man cried, trying to reach up to soothe the stinging pain on the left side of his face. Because his hands were still secured to either side of the chair he couldn't bring his hand up far enough to reach his face, but he could already feel his cheek swelling up and the warm, wet sensation he assumed was blood trailing down his face.

"It worked!" Crush and Dr. Minyak yelled out. The two shared sinister looks as endless possibilities ran through their evil minds.

"What are we going to do with him now?" Chip asked, twirling the pipe around in his hand seeming bored. Captain Man cringed away as the man pretended he was going to hit him with it again, he wasn't used to feeling this vulnerable. Chip laughed, shaking his head at how pathetic the hero looked. "Pathetic!"

"He's not a threat to us anymore." Dr. Minyak laughed, placing a hand on Chip's shoulder. "When word spreads that we took Captain Man's superpower we'll be the most powerful villains in all of Swellview!"

"Yes. We have a lot to discuss." Crush agreed. "I'll deal with you later." He told Captain Man as he led the other villains out of the room. The hero frowned, listening closely to the sound of four pairs of feet walking across the garage; the door squeaked open and then slammed shut, followed by the sound of a van backfiring and pulling out of the parking lot in front of the shop. Captain Man waited for a few more minutes just to be sure that the Crush and the others were really gone for the time being, then gathered his strength and started scooting his chair towards the desk. He could see the keys Chip had left, but they felt so far away. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his cheek, Captain man eventually reached the desk, but soon realized he couldn't reach high enough to get the keyring. Sighing, Captain Man tried to think of different ways out of this situation, when suddenly he remembered something that had happened in the Man Cave a few days ago. Henry had been bored, waiting for Charlotte to pinpoint coordinates for them and had made a game out of trying to balance in his chair using only the back legs. Of course Ray had told him it was impossible, which only made the boy try harder, but in the end he ended up falling backwards and breaking the chair. If Captain Man could do the same thing now, maybe he would be able to break free. Using the front of the desk for leverage Captain Man let himself lean back and then pushed off, letting the chair slam into the floor.

"Aaaaand, I'm on the floor. Great." Captain Man sighed, looking up at the desk sideways from his makeshift prison. Swallowing what little pride he had left, he lifted one of his legs up and started kicking things off the desk and onto the floor, lucky for him he heard the keys fall after a minute and he dragged the chair with him over to them. Once he was free Captain Man rubbed his wrists, frowning when he realized they were sore. Panic was starting to set in until he remembered he needed to play hero for just a little while longer. Quickly, Captain Man ran out of the room and found the door separating him from Kid Danger and unlocked it. "Kid!" Captain Man yelled, swinging the door open to find the boy had been sleeping on the floor. The sound of Captain Man walking towards him caused Kid Danger's heavy eyelids to slowly blink open.

"Captain Man?" He mumbled as the hero gently scooped him up, lifting him into his arms easily.

"Don't worry Kid, I'm getting you out of here." Captain Man whispered as he turned and headed for the door. Kid Danger nodded, letting his eyes close again as he relaxed against Captain Man's chest. It was obvious that the young boy felt safe there with him, but Captain Man didn't feel like he deserved this trust… all he kept thinking about was how it was his fault that his sidekick had ended up like this in the first place. Captain Man sighed, looking down at the boy as he carried him back to the Man Cave… all he could do now was try to think of some way to make it up to Henry and hope that he would accept his apology for sending him straight into danger earlier that night.

* * *

 **A/N: Please forgive me for any typos, I wrote most of this with a pretty bad cold and couldn't think straight. I wanted to give you guys a chapter anyway though so this is what I came up with. New chapter coming as soon as I can write it. As always thank you for all your support and nice reviews on this story!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Schwoz." Charlotte greeted as she got off the elevator, walking into the Man Cave after school. Schwoz turned to face her, expecting to see Henry with her.

"Henry's not with you?" He asked looking a little concerned. Charlotte rolled her eyes, tossing her bag onto the couch.

"You know… a simple hello would be appreciated." The girl sighed. "But no, I haven't seen Henry at all now that you mention it. He wasn't in school today."

"This is not good!" Schwoz frowned, turning back to the monitor on the wall. "I haven't heard from Ray all day either."

"Hmm… that _is_ a little weird… even by their standards." Charlotte agreed, going over to stand by the control panel next to Schwoz.

"I know, but that's not all." He said, turning to look at her. "When I woke up this morning I saw that there were two emergencies late last night… I am starting to worry about them."

"You don't think Ray would have called Henry over here in the middle of the night do you?" The girl asked, worry starting to creep up on her as well. Schwoz was about to answer her when suddenly the sound of the tubes going off interrupted them. "Ray?" Charlotte asked, her level of concern rising when she noticed that Ray was still in uniform.

"Where have you been!?" Schwoz demanded. "Charlotte was worried!" He added on, earning a dirty look from the girl. Ray stepped out of his tube, waiting for Henry's side to come down. When it did he used the remote to open the tube, catching the sleeping boy before he could fall.

"Henry!" Charlotte cried, shocked by what she saw. "What did you do to him?!"

"I don't have time to talk to you people right now." Ray answered shortly, he was too worried about Henry to give them anything more than that.

"Ray! We can help you, tell us what happened!" Schwoz tried, but Ray wasn't hearing it. Without acknowledging either Charlotte or Schwoz, he carried Henry out of the main room of the Man Cave and brought him back to his bedroom instead.

"It's alright Henry, you're safe now." Ray whispered, gently putting him down on the bed. He took the boy's boots and his utility belt off before tucking the blue and red blanket around him. "You rest there." He sighed, hesitating to look at the painful looking cuts on Henry's face before he took his mask off and put it on the night table. Ray felt like he didn't deserve to complain about his own pain when he saw how much this little kid was in, but now that Henry was safe, the adrenaline keeping him going was wearing off. "I'm so sorry kid." Ray sighed, reaching up to rub his own throbbing cheek. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

…

Henry slept through the rest of the day and into the late hours of the night there without moving. Ray set up camp on the floor using a wadded up bunch of t-shirts as a pillow and his bathrobe as a blanket. Charlotte and Schwoz had both tried to come talk to Ray more than once, but he refused to let them in, so eventually Charlotte went home and Schwoz went to his own room for the night. Part of Ray felt bad, but he couldn't face them just yet, especially not with the bruised gash on his cheek giving away that he'd lost his power. It seemed unfair to tell them how that had happened before he even got a chance to tell Henry. For the rest of the night all that kept running through Ray's mind was how Charlotte had immediately asked 'what did you do to him' instead of simply asking 'what happened'. Why had the girl's initial thought been that this was Ray's fault? It made him wonder if maybe he really wasn't the amazing superhero everyone thought he was...

"Mmm…" Henry whimpered softly as he started to wake up and his body started to ache again. The sound pulled Ray away from his thoughts and he sat up to see if he was okay. Ray noticed that Henry looked confused when he opened his eyes and found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling in the darkened room.

"It's alright Henry, we're back in the Man Cave now, this is my room." Ray explained, trying to keep his voice low. Henry took a deep breath, seeming to relax a little when he heard the familiar voice. The boy managed to sit up, wincing a little bit as he leaned back against the bed's headboard and turned his head to face Ray. Henry didn't seem to notice Ray's face yet, but of course Ray knew that it wouldn't stay a secret for much longer.

"What time is it?" Henry asked, rubbing his head. Ray got up from his spot on the floor and got a bottle of water and some tylenol off his dresser.

"It's just about one in the morning. Don't worry though, I texted your mom from your phone telling her I needed you to help stock the shelves until late and that you were just going to crash here afterwards." He told him, sitting on the edge of the bed so they could talk. "Here. This'll help with the pain."

"Thanks." Henry gratefully took the medicine from him and swallowed it with a long sip of water, finally looking up at Ray after a minute. When he noticed the swollen, bruised cut on the man's cheek his eyes widened. "Ray… what happened to your face?"

"What do you mean?" Ray tried to joke, but he dropped it when he saw how worried Henry looked. "Okay kid, just don't freak out okay?"

"Ray!" Henry yelled, reaching up so he could move his face to get a better look at the gash.

"Ow!" Ray pulled back, but quickly realized his mistake when Henry froze.

"Did that hurt you?" The young boy asked, not wanting to believe what had just happened. Ray pursed his lips and looked away from Henry, he didn't know how to really explain this to him without making it sound like it was all his fault.

"Yes…" Ray took a deep breath. "Crush gave me an ultimatum… it was my decision to make and I wouldn't change the way I chose for anything okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked, he was looking more and more confused by the second.

"I could either keep my indestructibility and let Crush continue to hurt you or I could give up my power and take your place." Ray frowned slightly when he saw the devastated look on the boy's face. "Henry… you have to understand, this isn't your fault. I chose this..."

"But if I didn't get caught none of this ever would have happened! A good sidekick is supposed to protect their superhero! Not get his power taken away or cause him to get hurt!" Henry looked so discouraged. "Maybe you should have chosen a better Kid Danger..." His words hurt Ray more than any physical blow could, he couldn't imagine not having Henry as his sidekick.

"No." Ray shook his head. "Henry, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have given you a hard time about who was going to take care of which crime in the first place. If anything you should have been the one dealing with Jeff in the park and I should have taken care of the froyo place. Crush and Chip were new criminals that we didn't know anything about… that wasn't a safe situation to send you into."

"Well yeah… that's kinda why I said I'd take the park." Henry added, pursing his lips as he looked at Ray. Ray looked away from the boy then, he felt so ashamed of himself.

"I'm really sorry…" He sighed. "I understand if you don't want to be Kid Danger anymore, but I want you to know I didn't make a mistake when I chose you to be my sidekick." Ray blew out a long, slow breath, drumming his hands on his lap as he thought about his next words. "You know, I never told you this before, but I think of you as my family. You're like a son or maybe even like a little brother to me... I should have done a better job protecting you." Ray shook his head, angry at himself for failing to do his job. "I am so, so sorry Henry." He didn't look at the boy even after he finished saying what he needed to say, but after a moment he felt a pair of arms wrap around him.

"Apology accepted." Henry sighed. "It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me. Besides, I can't leave now that I know you looove me." Henry let go of Ray then, laughing a little as he teased him. Ray sighed and shook his head knowing the boy would never let him live this down.

"Whatever you say Kid." Ray rolled his eyes, trying not to smile though he actually didn't mind Henry teasing him… it was better than him being mad at him after all. "Anyway, you should really try to get some more rest. Crush, Chip, Dr. Minyak, and Nurse Cohort all know I don't have my power anymore and I'm sure they won't keep it a secret for long. We're going to have to be ready for anything they throw at us and soon we're going to have to be ready for what every other criminal in Swellview is going to throw at us too."

* * *

 **A/N: Yay, spring break! I'm hoping to get another chapter up for you guys later this week! As always thank you for all the support and kind reviews you leave for me!**


	7. Chapter 7

When Henry woke up the next morning he felt a thousand times better than he had the night before. His cuts still stung and his body ached, but he felt like he had regained some of his strength back. Yawning, he stretched and rolled onto his side, noticing that Ray was still asleep on the floor with his makeshift blanket falling off of him. Henry sighed and got up, pulling one of the blankets off of the bed and gently laying it on top of Ray before leaving the room. Slowly, Henry made his way to the main room of the Man Cave so he could get some breakfast out of the auto-snacker, but Charlotte and Schwoz were sitting at the table talking when he walked in. Both of them stopped in the middle of their conversation and stared at him. Charlotte was the first to break the silence.

"What happened to you yesterday?" She asked, crossing her arms as she took in the sight of how banged up he looked. Henry frowned, suddenly wishing he had found something besides his torn up uniform to wear.

"Nothing…" Henry answered unconvincingly as he made his way across the room to the auto-snacker. Charlotte turned in her seat to face him, shooting him a look that warned him not to lie to her.

"Didn't look like nothing when Ray carried your bloody, limp body off to his room and locked the door without even an explanation as to what happened."

"Yeah…" Schwoz nodded. "Charlotte and I tried getting Ray to talk to us all night, but he wouldn't leave his room. What happened?" Henry looked from Schwoz to Charlotte, pursing his lips as he tried to think of something to tell them. Charlotte sighed, going over to stand by the boy.

"Hen, you know you can talk to us right? We're your friends." She put her hand on his shoulder, smiling sympathetically. "We just want to help you." Henry frowned and removed her hand from his shoulder.

"I don't need help… I need breakfast." He sighed, holding his palm against the screen on the auto-snacker. "Pancakes and chocolate milk."

" _Pancakes and chocolate milk_." The machine repeated, the door opening to reveal a plate of the fluffy golden-brown discs and a royal blue glass filled with chocolate milk. Henry picked up the plate and grabbed the glass, taking them to sit at the far end of the table. He hoped that by icing them out a little bit they would get the hint that he wasn't really ready to talk about the horrible things that had happened to him while he was trapped in Crush's prison.

"You don't want to talk." Charlotte sighed, watching Henry play with the food in front of him. "Okay, that's fine." She shook her head, walking out of the room.

"She looked mad." Schwoz pointed out. A moment later Charlotte confirmed his observation, pounding on Ray's door loud enough that both Henry and Schwoz could hear her.

"Ray Manchester! You better open this door and get out here right now!" She screamed, still banging loudly. On the other side of the door Ray jumped, startled by the sudden noise. "RAY! I know you can hear me!" Charlotte shrieked. Still groggy, Ray rubbed his eyes and crossed the room to open the door.

"Charlotte?" He asked, frowning slightly. "What's wrong?" Ray watched as the girl's angry expression slowly morphed into confusion when she saw the gash on his face.

"Okay, one of you needs to explain what's going on _right now_!" She demanded. "Henry won't tell us anything, so I guess that means you are!"

"Wait… you talked to Henry?" Ray asked, looking over his shoulder into his room to find that Henry wasn't there.

"Well I tried to talk to him." Charlotte shook her head and rolled her eyes. "He's too concerned with not eating his pancakes to say anything though. Hey wait…" Confusion swept over the girl as Ray pushed past her. "Where are you going?!" Charlotte complained, following him back into the other room.

"Henry…" Ray seemed relieved to see the boy up and moving about on his own.

"Ray!" Charlotte groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. Schwoz pursed his lips watching silently as the girl pushed Ray down onto the couch beside Henry and blocked them from getting up. "One of you start talking." She crossed her arms, her foot tapping impatiently as she looked from face to face. Henry frowned, looking away to swirl some of his butter in the syrup dripping off of his untouched breakfast. Ray sighed, taking a deep breath before filling Charlotte and Schwoz in on the major details of what had happened to him and Henry since their run in with Crush and Chip.

"So how exactly did you lose your power?" Schwoz asked, coming over to stand beside Charlotte. The two of them were doing their best to try and understand what happened, but there was just so much to take in.

"Crush had Dr. Minyak bring the perfume he'd concocted out of the Jolly Beetle tears… they sprayed me with it." Ray frowned slightly, trying to gloss over the details for Henry's sake. Charlotte and Schwoz didn't need to know anything about Crush's ultimatum as far as he was concerned.

"Is there a way to fix it?" Henry asked, finally speaking up after remaining silent the entire time Ray was explaining what had happened to them to their friends. Schwoz looked at the boy curiously.

"Well, you would need the Jolly Beetles-" He started, but Ray cut him off.

"There aren't any. The spray they used was leftover from the last time Dr. Minyak took my power."

"Well what if we had they actual spray they used on him?" Charlotte asked, looking at Schwoz. "Maybe we could look at the different components in the spray and figure out how to reverse the effects?" Schwoz was quiet for a moment, thoughtfully pondering this idea before nodding his head.

"Could work." He answered, obviously still thinking about the logistics and science he would need to use to accomplish such a task. "Yeah, I could probably figure it out, but Ray and Henry would need to find the spray before Dr. Minyak or Crush realize we could use it to bring Ray's power back. If they find out, they may try to alter the formula or destroy it altogether." Ray sighed, shaking his head. "Should be simple, no?"

"Yeah, for Captain Man…" Ray sighed, self-doubt starting to creep up on him and settle in. "I can't be Captain Man without my superpower."

"Yes you can." Henry interrupted. "Look at what you accomplished without your power yesterday. You managed to break out of Crush's trap, break me out of the holding cell, and escape all on your own."

"Besides, you'll have Henry to help you." Charlotte chimed in. Ray immediately shook his head.

"No. Absolutely not!" Ray's insecurity seemed to have completely disappeared, replaced by a sudden intensity. "If I'm going after them, I'm going after them alone."

"Woah, woah, wait!" Henry turned serious, moving in his seat so he was facing Ray. "Have you lost your mind?! Do you honestly think that after everything that's happened over the last two days I'm going to just let you go chasing after those psychos on your own?!" Charlotte and Schwoz shared a look choosing not to get involved, this was an argument between hero and sidekick and it was better if they let them work it out themselves.

"You're in no condition to be fighting criminals right now. You could barely even move yesterday..." Ray explained, trying to get Henry to see the logic behind his decision. "I just don't want to see you get hurt again, that's all."

"Ray, I'll be fine!" Henry tried, though he could see Ray wasn't going to change his mind on this.

"I've made up my mind, I'm going alone." Ray studied Henry's face for a moment, the scratches there only seemed to remind him why he needed to do this alone in the first place. The young boy was still hurt from the beating he took the day before and therefore wouldn't be able to properly protect himself in a fight if it came down to it. Without having his power, Ray didn't trust himself enough to know he'd be able to keep an eye on Henry, so this was the only other option. "Henry, I need you to promise me that you're not going to try to chase after me."

"I can't do that." Henry answered, shaking his head stubbornly.

"Well then give me your gumballs." Ray answered, holding his hand out for the tube of red and blue balls he knew they boy carried in his pocket. The shock he felt for actually saying the words out loud was mirrored on Henry's face.

"Give you my…" Henry trailed off. "But..."

"Look, I'm not firing you. I love having you as my sidekick, but you're in no condition to fight right now and without my power I can't protect you. I just don't want to see you get hurt again, that's all."

"You're being ridiculous! I don't need you to protect me!" Henry shot back angrily.

"Gum." Ray repeated sternly. He hated doing this to Henry, but he didn't want to find him laying in a bloody heap on the floor of some criminal's hangout again. Henry shook his head, biting back tears as he slammed his tube of gumballs into the palm of Ray's hand. "It's not forever Kid…"

"Whatever you say Ray, you're the boss!" Henry snapped. "I forgot my opinion doesn't matter to you!" He yelled before storming off through the door by the computer. Ray frowned, thinking about the boy's words as his closed his fingers around the tube of gum. He hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake here… not listening to Henry played a large part in getting him into this mess in the first place. Charlotte and Schwoz watched Henry storm off without saying a word, awkwardly trying to avoid making eye contact with Ray.

"I'm doing it for his own good." Ray told them, trying to convince himself more than anyone else. Neither Charlotte, nor Schwoz had anything to say about the issue, so Ray just sighed and took out his own gumballs. "I'm going to go track Crush down. The faster I find him, the faster I'll be able to get the spray and hopefully return to normal."

* * *

 **A/N: Ooooo, the drama. Anyway, I hope this chapter came out alright, I'm not really sure about it. I'm planning on updating again this week, so be on the lookout for that. Thank you in advance if you decide to leave me a review, I really love seeing what you guys think about my chapters!**

 **PS: I currently (as of when I'm originally posting this chapter) have a poll up asking which type of Henry Danger story you'd like me to write next, so vote in that if you're interested or if you have a more specific idea leave it in a review or PM for me. I'm not done with this story just yet, but I want to be ready to start another when this one is over. Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Stupid Ray!" Henry grumbled, he could hear the tubes go off and knew it meant Ray had left the Man Cave. "How could he really take my gumballs away?! This is all _his_ fault!" Shaking his head the boy went back to Ray's room and started dismantling his uniform after slamming the door shut. "If he would ever just listen to me!" He angrily tore his vest off and threw his elbow pads and gloves on the floor by his boots, breathing heavily as he stared at the heap of Kid Danger gear laying on the floor

"Henry?" A soft voice asked. "Are you okay?" Charlotte asked through the door. The words caused tears to sting the corners of Henry's eyes.

"I'm fine." He lied, his eyes flashing to the red and silver mask sitting on the nightstand. It would have been so easy for him to reach out and take it, but what was the point? In Henry's mind, Captain Man had made it very clear that he no longer wanted or needed a sidekick. A few of the tears Henry was trying so desperately to hold back managed to slide down his cheeks, but he quickly wiped them away.

"You can talk to me." Charlotte tried, but Henry didn't answer her. When he finally opened the door a couple of minutes later, he was wearing one of Ray's grey zip-up hoodies in an attempt to conceal what was left his uniform as well as his blonde hair.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte asked, taking in the sight of the boy being swallowed up by the sweatshirt that was clearly too big for him.

"I'm going home!" Henry snapped. "Ray doesn't need me anymore so there's no sense in me sticking around."

"Hen…" Charlotte frowned when she heard the boy's words, but he had already pushed past her and made his way to the other room.

"Guess this is the last time I'll ever get to do this…" Henry sighed, more of his sadness showing through than anger for a moment as he used the remote to let his tube encase him. "Up the tube!"

…

It took almost an hour of driving around in the Man Van for Captain Man to finally track down the villains he'd managed to escape from the day before. The bad guys had somehow ended up at the seemingly abandoned warehouse Captain Man knew to be Dr. Minyak's lair. Captain Man parked his van on a side street facing the building and pulled out a pair of binoculars so he could try to get a sense of what was going on. Chip was sitting on a milk crate near a door on the side of the building looking rather bored, Captain Man figured it would be easy enough to win a fight against him and thought maybe he could even manage to get some information out of the man.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Chip smirked, banging his fist against the door once as he noticed the hero walking up to him. After another second or two passed he stood up and took a couple of steps forward, meeting Captain Man a few feet away from the door. "How's the face? Looks like it bruised up nice." Chip laughed. Captain Man let out an exaggerated breath, choosing to ignore the dig.

"Where's Crush and Dr. Minyak?" Captain Man demanded. He wasn't in the mood to play games with the criminal, he just wanted to get Dr. Minyak's spray and bring it back to the Man Cave so hopefully all of this would be behind him.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Chip answered, though the way he said it led Captain Man to believe he actually had no idea where the other villains were or what their plans involved.

"What happened? Did your boss stick you in a time out because you messed up and left those keys on the desk yesterday?" Captain Man smiled slightly, antagonizing Chip. "You know that's how I escaped right?" The villain glared at him, pure hate clear on his face.

"You know, I wouldn't concern myself with that if I were you." Chip's eyes flitted just over Captain Man's shoulder then, smiling wickedly. "You have much bigger things to worry about now."

"Hey!" Captain Man cried as a pair of arms grabbed him from behind and lifted him off the ground.

"Good work, Chip." Crush called as he walked past the man restraining Captain Man. Chip crossed his arms, smiling proudly.

"And you said I was useless." Chip scoffed, laughing as he watched the hero struggling to break free.

"What's going on!" Captain Man demanded, struggling to try and free himself. Crush looked at the man holding the hero and nodded, within seconds Captain Man found himself on his knees. "Ow!" He cried out in pain as his arm popped loudly, cracking as it was twisted too far behind his back. Crush smiled, walking over to the door so he could open it. Dr. Minyak was waiting there.

"Bring him inside!" Dr. Minyak ordered, smiling triumphantly as he looked at the fear and pain in the hero's eyes. It was quite obvious to all three of the villains standing there that Captain Man didn't like the feeling of vulnerability that came with not having his power.

"Get moving!" The man holding onto the hero growled, forcing him to his feet. "I said go!"

"Ah!" Captain Man yelped, taking a sharp breath in as the man twisted his already throbbing arm even further behind his back and started pushing him towards the door.

…

"I can't believe him!" Henry grumbled, kicking at a rock on the sidewalk as he started walking down his street. He was still mad at Ray even after all the time it had taken him to walk home from Junk N' Stuff. Henry just couldn't seem to understand that Ray only took his gumballs because he didn't want to see him get hurt again, he only viewed this as some sort of punishment for failing as a sidekick and causing Ray to lose his power. "Stupid Ray! I know he doesn't even care what I have to say about any of this!" Henry sighed and walked up his front stairs, pressing his face against the front door in a sign of defeat as he realized he didn't have his keys on him. "Can my life get any worse?!" He groaned, halfheartedly reaching up to knock on the door. A few moments later his mother opened the door for him with a warm smile.

"Home so soon? I thought you were going to be busy helping your boss today." She had no idea that her words would make her son feel even worse than he already did. Henry sighed and looked away from her face, not wanting to risk letting her see how upset he was. He didn't want her to start asking questions he couldn't answer.

"Yeah, mom… I thought so too." Henry blinked hard, but regained his composure before looking up at her again. "Look, I had a really long day already… I just want to go relax in my room and watch a little TV or something."

"Okay honey." Henry's mom smiled, not really picking up on the fact that anything was wrong. Henry had gotten too good at lying to people about work for anyone to ever really question him about it. "I was actually just about to go grocery shopping, I'll take Piper with me so she won't bother you."

"Thanks mom." Henry forced another smile before heading upstairs and locking himself in his bedroom. He flipped on the TV, sighing as a rerun of _Walking Orange_ appeared on the screen. He didn't really pay much attention to the show as he changed out of what was left of his Kid Danger uniform and threw on his favorite jeans and a plaid shirt. Once he was changed he let himself flop onto his bed and tried to focus on anything but Ray, superheroes, and gumballs. It didn't help the boy's cause that the episode of _Walking Orange_ that was playing was the same episode The Spoiler had ruined for him and everyone else in Swellview. The memory only made him think of crime fighting with Captain Man… something he believed he would never get the chance to do again. Angrily, Henry picked up the remote and pressed any button on the remote to change the channel. The KLVY News came on in the middle of a breaking news update.

" _Yes, it seems that Captain Man's Man Van was left by an abandoned warehouse believed to be the secret hideout of the notorious villain Dr. Minyak. The actual whereabouts of Swellview's hero or his sidekick are unknown at this time."_ Trent Overunder announced.

"Wait what?!" Henry fumbled to turn the volume on the TV up, leaning forward so he could focus.

" _And we don't know where Captain Man is at this time?"_ Mary Gaperman asked, looking over to Trent with the same stupid expression she always wore. Trent sighed and shook his head at her.

" _No, Mary. That's why we just announced that his whereabouts are unknown."_ The man pointed out, turning back to the camera.

" _That's right! Back to you Trent."_

"No, no, no, no, no, Ray!" Henry frowned as he ran his hands through his hair and stood up, panic and worry were rapidly replacing the feelings of anger he had felt towards his boss only minutes before. No matter how mad he was at Ray he still didn't want him in danger, especially not when he was out fighting crime without his superpower, he wasn't used to getting hurt. All a villain would have to do was inflict minor pain on the man and Ray would be done. "I have to help him!" Henry decided, pulling at his hair as he racked his brain for any idea what to do now. He glanced at the TV, a photo of the Man Van was being shown. "Dr. Minyak's lair! I know where that is!" He exclaimed, reaching into his pocket to pull out his tube of gum. The boy deflated the slightest bit when his fingers closed around air, but he didn't give himself time to pout about it, he'd already done enough of that today. "I don't need my mask or any of my weapons to save my friend. I can do this…" He told himself, trying to sound convincing as he left his room and ran back downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Henry's mom asked as the boy raced by her to get to the front door. She had her purse in her hand and Piper was waiting impatiently for her to be ready so they could leave for the store.

"I uh… I left something at work!" Henry blurted out as he swung the door open.

"Can't you just get it tomorrow?" Piper questioned, raising an eyebrow as she looked at how frazzled he seemed. Henry started backing out of the door onto the porch as he answered.

"No! It's important… I need to go get it now."

"Well do you want a ride?" Mrs. Hart asked, searching for the car keys in her purse. Henry frantically shook his head.

"No, thanks. I'll text you later, bye!" He yelled to them, taking the stairs three at a time before taking off running.

"Freak." Piper muttered, rolling her eyes as she watched her brother disappear down the street.

* * *

 **A/N: Big thank you again to all of you who review or add me/the story to your alerts and favorites. I really appreciate all of the support you guys give me! Spring Break is effectively over for me, but I am going to try to continue to update on a more frequent basis like I did last week. A new chapter will be coming soon so be on the lookout for that!**

 **PS: If you haven't voted yet my poll (asking what type of Henry Danger story you would like me to write next) is still up. Thanks guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

It took Henry quite some time to get to Dr. Minyak's lair from his house even though he had a pretty good idea of where he was going. One of the first things the boy noticed when he arrived was that the Man Van was still parked on a nearby side street just as KLVY News had reported earlier. Looking around to make sure nobody was within the vicinity of the area, Henry ran over to the van and let himself in through the rear door; the lock was broken and despite Henry reminding Ray more than once to ask Schwoz to fix it, it still wasn't done. For once it was a good thing Ray hadn't listened to him.

Henry hurried to pull the door closed behind him and turned to look at the mess he and Ray had managed to create in the vehicle over the course of the past few months. For a fleeting second he thought Charlotte was right about how they needed to clean things up, but he let the idea pass… there were more important things to think about at the moment.

"Okay… what is going to help me help Captain Man?" Henry asked, crouching down so he could start sorting through some of the things on the floor. Most of the objects thrown in the van were wrappers from various fast food places Ray would stop at after a mission, or broken weapons that were meant to be given to Schwoz for repair. Henry sighed, he wasn't getting anywhere with any of the junk back there. The boy was just about ready to give up and try his luck going in unarmed, but then decided to check up front where he and Ray sat. He hoped that he would be lucky enough to find his tube of gumballs, but instead all he found was the missing mini-laser Ray had lost weeks before stuffed between the driver's seat and the center console.

"I can work with this." Henry told himself, slipping the device into his pocket so nobody would see it and wonder why he had it if they happened to see him before he got into Dr. Minyak's lair. Henry sighed as he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the rearview mirror, even though he'd only had his mask for a few short months, it felt weird to be without it.

"Okay, now or never. Ray needs you." Henry whispered to his reflection, forcing himself to get out of the van before he worked himself up and got into his own head about not being Kid Danger. Without wasting time, he hurried over to the building he knew Dr. Minyak and Crush were holding Captain Man in and started looking for a way inside.

...

"Let me go!" Captain Man yelled, trying to get away from the man pushing him inside.

"Stop resisting!" The man answered, twisting Captain Man's arm a little further, it seemed like that was all he needed to do to get the hero to cooperate with him. This little game of hostage taker and victim went on until Captain Man found himself inside a room within Dr. Minyak's lair.

"Take his weapons!" Crush ordered, shaking his head as Chip ripped the hero's utility belt off and tossed it onto the floor next to the door.

"Anything else?" Chip asked, patting Captain Man down as he checked him for more weapons. The hero glared at him indignantly, he was about to open his mouth to say something about it, but Dr. Minyak lost his patience and stepped in.

"That's enough!" Dr. Minyak growled. "Get in!" He demanded, gripping onto the back of Captain Man's collar and forcing him into what looked like an animal crate. Before the hero had a chance to push the little door back open, Chip secured three different combination locks onto the cage.

"Good luck finding a key that works for those ones." Chip laughed, kicking the crate. Captain Man glared up at the men, cradling his arm against his chest. He'd never felt pain like this before, not even when he was a young child and still vulnerable to being injured. If he had to guess, he would say his arm was broken or at the very least badly fractured.

"Why are you doing this?!" He demanded. Crush smirked, crouching down so he was at eye level with the hero.

"Because the only thing stopping us from getting what we want is you." Crush looked up to watch Dr. Minyak secure a giant hook to the top of the cage. The more seasoned villain made his way to the front of the mini-prison then and took a remote out of his pocket, pressing a button on it to lift the cage into the air.

"I won't fail this time Captain Man." His voice was chilling as he stared into the pair of blue eyes hidden behind the hero's mask. "I _will_ destroy you." He promised, turning to look at Chip and Nurse Cohort. "Bring in the tank!" Dr. Minyak ordered, stepping back as a giant metal drum was wheeled underneath the suspended cage holding Captain Man.

"What…" Captain Man whispered, looking down into the empty container from his place dangling above it. Crush smirked, laughing a little as Dr. Minyak used the remote he was holding to lower a system of nozzles out of the ceiling. Once the hoses were in position, Dr. Minyak released the crate from the hook holding it in the air, letting it slam to the bottom of the barrel with a loud clang.

"I sure hope you know how to swim." Chip laughed, looking through the glass window on the drum at Captain Man. "Not that it'll help you much." He added, his laugh turning into something that sounded more like a cackle. Dr. Minyak hit another button on his remote then, turning on the nozzles hanging above the tank. Water started pouring in at an alarming rate. Captain Man immediately realized what was happening and fear took over... he wasn't used to danger like this.

"No!" Captain Man moved forward in the cage, pressing his hand against the door as he knelt in the tiny prison. "You can't do this!" He looked at the faces of each of the villains standing before him, he looked pathetic to them as he begged. "Without my indestructibility I'll drown!" The water was coming in so quickly that it was already starting to rise up above his knees.

"That's the whole point. We're _trying_ to destroy you." Dr. Minyak pointed out. "Now if you'll excuse us…" He let his statement linger, crossing the room to go to the door. The other villains all filed out of the room then and Dr. Minyak started to follow, but stopped, pausing to look back at Captain Man. "Don't worry, this will all be over soon enough." He promised, cackling as he looked at the terror on Captain Man's face as the water continued to pour in.

"No!" Captain Man cried. "Don't leave me here!" He begged as Dr. Minyak slammed the door shut. The water was creeping up to his waist now, at this rate Captain Man figured the crate holding him would be completely submerged within a few minutes. "Someone help!" Captain Man screamed, using his good arm to try to pry the bars of the crate open, but the trap was surprisingly secure. "What is this thing even made of?!" The hero asked, laying back so he could lean against the other side of the cage for leverage as he tried to use his legs to force it open. Nothing he tried seemed to work and by now the cage was filled three quarters of the way with the frigid water. Captain Man's breathing became more erratic as he tried in vain to guess the combinations that went to the locks. It seemed like there was nothing he could do without his weapons and now he found himself really wishing that he hadn't taken Henry's gum away. It would have been nice to have his sidekick there to let him out of the death trap that was quite literally about to kill him. "Someone!" Captain Man cried, panic causing his voice to crack as the water brushed up against his jaw. "Anyone! Please help me!" He screamed, trying again to push the crate apart using every ounce of strength he had left. "NO!" He cried, coughing as he sucked in one last breath before water encased his crate.

…

"Where is he?" Henry whispered. He'd already been in the building for about a half an hour and in that time managed to find the spray Captain Man had originally came here for and managed to stay out of sight, all he needed to do now was find Captain Man and they would be home free. "Captain Man?!" Henry called in a hushed whisper, cautiously rounding the corner to another hallway.

" _Anyone! Please help me!"_ Henry heard, freezing in place, he would know that voice anywhere.

"Captain Man!?" He yelled, before clapping a hand over his mouth. He had managed to remain unseen up until this point and he really wanted to keep it that way. He knew he was playing with fire on this one because there was no excuse as to why he was sneaking around in a building that, up until a few hours ago, the regular citizens of Swellview thought was abandoned. It wouldn't be hard for someone with half a brain to guess that he was Kid Danger.

" _NO!"_ Henry was positive the cries were coming from somewhere close and opened a few doors until he finally found the room Captain Man was in.

"Captain Man!" Henry shrieked when he saw the hero staring at him with terror filled eyes through the glass window built into the side of the tank. The boy panicked as he watched Captain Man cough, losing whatever air had been left in his lungs after holding it for as long as he could. The man locked eyes with Henry for a moment begging him for help. "Hold on! I'm going to get you out of there!" He promised, looking around the room for something, anything, that could help him save his friend. "The laser!" Henry yelled, remembering he had the gadget in his pocket after he saw Captain Man's utility belt laying on the floor. Without wasting another second, Henry took the mini-laser out and set it as high as it would go before aiming it at the glass and turning his face away as he blasted it. The window exploded, shattering into a thousand jagged pieces as soon as the beam came in contact with it sending gallons of water spilling out of the drum into the room. Henry ran towards the tank without hesitating and melted the locks off of the makeshift jail as the water level started to drop. "Captain Man, are you okay?!" Henry asked, watching as the man choked in a few shaky breaths.

"Henry!" The hero coughed, his heart was pounding and he really needed to concentrate on forcing air in and out of his lungs, but somehow he managed to lean forward just enough so that he could hook his arm around the boy and trap him against his chest in a tight hug. Henry hugged him back, noticing that Captain Man was shaking slightly.

"Hey... it's going to be okay. You're okay." Henry whispered, trying to comfort the man. Captain Man pulled away a little bit so he could look at him, smiling a tiny bit despite still being a little freaked out.

"Thank you... for saving me." Captain Man said, looking away from Henry, he was more than a little embarrassed by having to say those words epecially after what had happened in the Man Cave earlier. Henry sensed the hero's feelings and decided he'd already suffered enough, he didn't need to make him feel worse than he already did.

"I found th-" Henry started to say, but the sound of the door slamming open interrupted him.

"What's going on in- _Oh. My. God._ " Chip frowned, taking in the sight of Captain Man and the young boy sitting in the bottom of the destroyed tank as he barged into the room to investigate the loud bang the sound of the explosion had caused. "Is that your sidekick? Where's his little matchy matchy outfit?" Henry's heart skipped a beat and he brought his hands up to try to shield his face even though he had his back to the villain. Captain Man frowned then, suddenly feeling a whole lot worse about taking the kid's gum away, especially after he'd just saved his life. If Chip learned his secret identity it could put Henry in a lot of danger.

"Walk away." Captain Man said, looking up at Chip. "You don't need to do this… just walk away."

"Actually…" Chip picked up Captain Man's utility belt from off the floor and put it around his own waist, picking out a weapon. "...I think I do." Henry frowned when he heard the sound of a blaster being powered on...

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so I think that there will only be one, maybe two more chapters after this one and that'll be it for this story. I will definitely be doing another Henry Danger story after this one is finished. I'm actually planning that one so there won't be too much of a wait between this one ending and that one beginning. (The new one will include The Toddler just in case anyone was wondering...)**

 *** If you have story suggestions that DON'T involve an OC (original character) feel free to PM me or leave your suggestion along with your review. No promises that I'll write them, but I will take them all into consideration.**

* * *

 **As always thank you all so much for the reviews and support you give me on this story! I love seeing all the emails from FanFic in my inbox, it really makes my day!**


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm done playing this little cat and mouse game with you two!" Chip aimed the blaster at Captain Man, but directed his attention to the boy kneeling beside the hero. "Turn around or I blast him to bits!" He demanded. Henry frowned, slowly lowering his hands from their place shielding his face from view. Captain Man pursed his lips, saying nothing as he watched Henry pick up the mini-laser from the pile of broken glass and hide it in his hand as he stood up. "I'm losing my patience!" Chip growled.

"Okay, okay! I'm up!" Henry told him, slipping the weapon into his back pocket as he turned to face the villain. Chip stared at the boy, studying what his face looked like without his mask on so that he could report his discovery back to the others. Henry didn't move a muscle as Chip scrutinized him; part of this could have had something to do with the fact that the villain was aiming a blaster at him, but it was more likely because Henry couldn't stop thinking about the oath he'd taken when he'd first become Kid Danger. Part of him felt like he was betraying his oath by allowing Chip to see who he really was without his mask, but there seemed to be no other option at the moment.

"He did as you asked, now let him go." Captain Man demanded, glaring at Chip from his place kneeling in the broken glass.

"You shut up!" Chip ordered, firing the blaster just inches away from the hero's head. "Next time I won't miss." He explained before either of the people standing there could assume he'd missed because he couldn't shoot.

"What's your name?" Chip demanded, moving the blaster the slightest bit so it was trained on Henry instead of Captain Man. Henry was about to look back at Captain Man to see if he should answer the question, but Chip reset the blaster and held it at the ready. "Don't look at him, just answer the question!"

"Uh… my name is Henry." The boy answered hesitantly. Chip didn't seem satisfied as he took a step forward.

"Henry what?" He demanded, flaunting the blaster towards the child.

"Hart." Henry answered carefully. "I just… I'm confused as to why it matters. Now that you know who I am, I can't be Kid Danger anymore." On the outside the boy said this without wavering, but on the inside he was crushed. "I'm too much of a liability now."

"Kid…" Captain Man tried, he wanted to talk about this a little more before Henry started jumping to conclusions, but a stern look from Chip silenced him.

"Well, Henry Hart, _former_ sidekick to Captain Man… I have another question for you." Chip took a few menacing steps towards him and brought the blaster up so it was merely centimeters from the boy's face. Henry swallowed hard as he stared past the bridge of his nose at the armed weapon. "What is Captain Man's real identity?"

"What is Captain Man's real identity?" Henry repeated, forcing himself to bring his eyes up to meet Chip's. "I can't tell you that." Chip narrowed his eyes at the boy, his patience was wearing extremely thin.

"What do you mean you can't tell me!?" The villain bellowed, pushing the end of blaster closer to Henry's face trying to intimidate him. Chip didn't understand why the thirteen year old was being so stubborn about this, especially after he'd just admitted that he would probably be stripped of his sidekick status after blowing his cover like this.

"I promised Captain Man I would never tell anyone who he really was. I'm not going to break that promise." He explained. Chip looked positively furious, but after a moment he was dead calm.

"Okay, that's fine. I have other ways of making you talk."

"Henry!" Captain Man reached out and yanked the boy down by his arm just as the man fired a shot at him. Henry froze for a second, his hands getting cut up as he landed painfully on the pile of glass. Captain Man wanted to check on him, but realized that they might not get another opportunity to play offence if they waited, so without giving it much thought, he sprung up and placed a strong kick to Chip's midsection. The villain went flying backwards into the middle of the room as a result.

"The blaster!" Henry exclaimed, pointing to weapon Chip had dropped as he landed on the floor. Bodies flew as the three people literally threw themselves towards the blaster.

"Get it!" Captain Man yelled, ignoring his pain as he partially landed on his broken right arm as he tried to scramble to the weapon. Henry crawled his way over to the blaster and covered the handle with his hand.

"I got it!" He called, excitement and surprise coloring his tone. He was all smiles until a heavy boot came down and pinned his wrist against the floor, causing the painful pieces of broken glass already stuck in the boy's hand to embed themselves even deeper.

"I'll take that." Chip laughed, shaking his head as he powered up the blaster once again. "You really don't know when to quit do you?" He asked, his voice dripping with annoyance at Henry as he aimed at him. Henry grinned at Chip, reaching into his own back pocket to produce the mini-laser he'd hidden there earlier.

"No..." Henry fired the tiny weapon at Chip, burning his hand just enough to get him to drop the blaster again. "... I don't."

" _I'll_ take that." Captain Man stated, picking up his weapon. "Oh how the tables have turned!" The hero announced smugly, training the blaster on Chip. Henry smirked and stood by Captain Man's side, his mini-laser at the ready.

"Yeah! They've turned… on you!" Henry added, gesturing to the villain laying on the floor. Captain Man raised an eyebrow and looked over at the boy, shaking his head with a little smile. Trash talk had never really been the boy's strong suit, but Captain Man had grown accustomed to Henry's attempts at sounding tough in front of the criminals, it was endearing really.

"Not yet they haven't!" Chip declared, taking a few steps towards the door. "If I can't destroy you one way, I'll destroy you another! I know that Kid Danger is really just some stupid kid named Henry Hart, I'm sure there are plenty of other people who could benefit from knowing that little tidbit of information."

"Leave Henry out of this!" Captain Man growled, shooting his weapon at Chip. The blast went wide and took a chunk out of the doorframe.

"Ha! You missed!" Chip taunted before taking off down the hallway, throwing various boxes, bins, and other objects on the ground to slow the duo who would surely chase after him.

"We can't let him get away! Come on!" Captain Man yelled, sprinting after Chip. The hero didn't have to turn around to make sure Henry was following him, he could hear the sound of his feet pounding against the concrete floor behind him as they ran.

"There!" Henry pointed as they rounded the corner and saw Chip heading down the corridor. Captain Man fired his weapon at him.

"Missed again Captain Man!" Chip laughed, looking over his shoulder at him. "Some hero you are!" There wasn't much further for the man to go before he would find himself outside, where escape would only take something as simple as ducking down a few side streets and laying low for a while until his opportunity to expose Kid Danger presented itself. Captain Man seemed to be all too aware that losing Chip now guaranteed that he would have to lose Henry as well and he refused to let that happen.

"I've had just about enough of you!" Captain Man yelled, freezing in place so he could have steadier aim as he shot the blaster in Chip's direction again. He didn't let up, firing shot after shot until he hit the villain in the leg and watched him crumble to the floor in pain. Henry watched the scene unfold with wide eyes, using his mini-laser to stun Chip into a state of unconsciousness.

"We got him!" Henry cheered, smiling over at Captain Man. The hero nodded, but didn't share the same sense of relief the boy felt, instead he was looking up and down the hallway to make sure nobody else was coming.

"We need to get out of here before anyone else sees you." Captain Man explained, walking up to the sleeping villain. The hero reached down and took his utility belt back, struggling to put it back around his own waist with only one arm.

"What about Chip? He knows I'm Kid Danger now…" Henry reminded Captain Man, watching in slight confusion as the hero maneuvered the limp figure up onto his shoulder with one arm.

"He won't for long, you'll see." Captain Man told him, nodding towards the door so Henry would start walking. "Are there any reporters hanging around the Man Van out there?" The hero asked, pausing at the door before he stepped outside.

"I'll go check." Henry offered, peeking his head outside before stepping out of the building. "I don't see anyone…" He reported, walking down the side alley out to the sidewalk. "Nobody's here." He confirmed.

"Get to the van and open the back door, I'm right behind you." Captain Man watched out the door for Henry to get to the vehicle and disappear inside before he hurried across the street and dumped Chip into the back of the van. He slammed the door shut and went around to the driver's side and got inside, wincing slightly as he tried to use his right arm to turn the key and start the van. Henry noticed and took the keys from him.

"Here, let me help." The boy stuck the keys in the ignition and started the Man Van, pulling the gear shift down into drive for Captain Man. "Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes pausing to inspect the painful looking twist in the hero's arm.

"Yeah…" The man tried to lie, but after a moment of heavy silence he sighed. "No." He paused for another moment, staring at the road as they rolled down the street. "I'm pretty sure my arm's broken, I almost drowned, and I haven't done the right thing by you." Captain Man stopped at a red light and looked at Henry, who was trying to pick some of the glass out of his hands. "I'm really, really sorry Henry. I never should have taken your gum away… the only reason I did was because I wanted to protect you and give you time to heal before you were out chasing bad guys with me again." Captain Man paused again, causing Henry to look up at him.

"What?" Henry urged, trying to get him to continue his thought. The light turned green and the van started to move again.

"I just… I don't know what to say to make it up to you." He admitted sheepishly. "I mean I didn't listen to you, you were captured and beaten half to death because of me, I took your gum and made you cry, and now your cover is blown because of me."

"Psh… I didn't cry." The boy lied, embarrassed that his friend had even brought it up. "Either way though, you were being a total jerk."

"I know." Captain Man answered, looking majorly defeated as he turned into his hidden garage and stopped the van.

"Doesn't mean I don't forgive you though." Henry moved the gear shift into park for him without having to be asked, smiling softly. "You gave up your power for me and even though you went about it the entirely wrong way, you _were_ just trying to protect me."

"You mean it?" The hero perked up a little bit. "You really forgive me?"

"Yeah." Henry shrugged like it was no big deal, but the smile on his face said otherwise. "Besides... you need me. Right?" His smile fell the slightest bit, suddenly he was a little worried about his sidekick status now that Chip knew his true identity.

"You're right." Captain Man smiled softly, unzipping the pouch on his utility belt to produce Henry's tube of gumballs. "I do need you, Kid Danger."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter! I was focused on studying for a huge test (that decides whether or not I get to do what I want to do in life) and on top of that I'm graduating college next month! I have appreciated seeing all the nice reviews you guys have been leaving on this story though, so I wanted to thank you for all your support!**

 **Anyway, the next chapter will be the last one on this story, but I have two stories ready to be written for you guys. Let me know which one you want me to see first by either PMing me or letting me know in a review! (That being said I WILL end up posting both eventually.)**

 **Option 1: A story involving The Toddler and his device that turns the citizens of Swellview into toddlers. (multi-chapter)**

 **Option 2: A story involving Ray's Super Anniversary, but with a twist... (not sure if it will have more than one chapter at this point)**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think about that and as always I would love to hear what you thought about this chapter in a review! Thank you!**


	11. Chapter 11

"Charlotte, Schwoz, come over here and help me." Captain Man ordered as soon as his tube lifted and he entered the Man Cave. The pair looked over from where they were playing cards on the couch to see Chip land in a heap against the glass in Henry's tube.

"Uh… what's going on here?" Charlotte asked, placing her cards down as she stood up. Schwoz followed her, walking over to Captain Man.

"What happened to you?" Schwoz asked, grabbing the man's limp arm so he could inspect it. The hero winced, jerking his arm away from Schwoz's painful touch.

"That's not really important right now. We need to get the Memory Eraser fired up before Chip regains consciousness. It was hard enough for Henry and I to catch him this time, I'm not chasing him down again."

"Wait, Henry?" Charlotte crossed her arms, she was more than a little annoyed by the way Captain Man had been treating her friend lately. "What does he even have to do with this?" The look the girl shot at Captain Man was lethal. "The last time I checked, you sent him home practically in tears because you took his gum." Captain Man narrowed his eyes at the girl, he didn't really have a good answer to give her, but seconds later the boy came flying down the tube.

"Henry?" Schwoz asked, his eyebrows knitting together as Captain Man's tube came up and Henry stepped out.

"Schwoz!" Henry smiled, reaching into the pocket of his sweatshirt. "I found the spray Dr. Minyak, Nurse Cohort, Crush, and Chip used to take Captain Man's power away. You can use it to bring it back right?"

"I'll see what I can do." Schwoz answered, taking the bottle from the boy. He was still confused about how and why he was here helping Captain Man but didn't question it, instead he took the spray and disappeared to go work on figuring out how to restore Captain Man's power.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on!?" Charlotte yelled. Captain Man sighed and rolled his eyes, annoyed that the girl hadn't figured it out for herself yet.

"It's pretty simple stuff Charlotte, try to keep up." Captain Man took a few steps over towards the tube Chip was trapped in, looking at him through the glass in utter disgust as he started his story. "Chip and his little friends managed to overpower me, broke my arm, and tried to drown me. I wouldn't be here right now if Henry hadn't come to rescue me. He's a hero."

"Yeah, whatever…" Henry blushed slightly, he didn't want to take the credit for saving his friend because the reason he was put in the position in the first place all stemmed from Henry getting caught by Crush and Chip. "So uh, what are you going to do with him now?" The boy asked, gesturing to the man sleeping in the bottom of his tube.

"I'm going to wipe his brain so he doesn't remember that you're Kid Danger." Captain Man answered, walking across the room to the closet. "Charlotte, while I go to get the Memory Eraser from the storage room, I want you to help Henry get that glass out of his hands."

"Glass?" Charlotte asked, her eyebrows raising in concern as Captain Man handed her a first aid kit and herded Henry over to the couch.

"I'll be back in a little while, I need to figure out what Schwoz did with the stupid thing."

"Okay." Henry answered, avoiding making eye contact with Charlotte as she sat down at the table across from him.

"So…" Charlotte sang awkwardly as the boy laid his hands out on the table. "... you went after Ray huh?" Henry could sense that she disapproved of his decision just by the tone of her voice. The boy paused for a minute, not sure what to say. Charlotte took his silence to mean that he wasn't going to answer her. "You know, there's an awful lot of glass here. If you were wearing gloves, like I don't know, how Kid Danger does, this wouldn't have happened."

"Come on Char, he already feels bad." Henry winced, flinching a little as the girl pulled one of the deeper shards of glass out of his hands.

"Hen, are you sure you even want to be Kid Danger anymore? Ray put you in some serious danger for no good reason and you got really hurt because of it… more than once." Charlotte glanced over to the lump of person slumped over in the tube. "Not to mention he blew your cover. If Chip had gotten away-"

"I blew my own cover." Henry snapped, his eyes darting up to glare at her. "Ray never said being his sidekick was going to be an easy job. He didn't mean for any of this to happen and besides, I love being Kid Danger. I'm not going to quit." Charlotte looked up to argue with Henry, but the fire in his eyes told her that she better not push him this time.

"Okay." She said, smiling softly so he would get off the defensive. After a minute or two Henry seemed to relax a little bit, or as much as he could when his hands were in so much pain. "I'm almost done, I'm sorry." Charlotte told him, reading the look on the boy's face as she wrapped one of his hands in a piece of gauze and started to bandage the other one.

"Found it!" Captain Man announced loudly as he struggled through the door with the large contraption. "As soon at Chip wakes up I'm going to blast him with this and then I'll get rid of him."

"You're going to kill him!?" Charlotte shrieked, turning to look at the hero in horrified disbelief. Captain Man laughed and shook his head.

"No. I'm just gonna drop him in an alley somewhere and call it a night." The hero laughed again. "Kill him… Charlotte you're too funny."

"Yeah… _I_ am." She answered, rolling her eyes as she finished taping Henry's hand.

"How long are you going to wait for him to wake up?" Henry asked, going over to help Captain Man bring the Memory Eraser over to the tubes.

"Not long." Captain Man answered, hitting the button on the control panel to raise the tubes. Chip went tumbling face first onto the floor and was immediately zapped by the hero's laser. "Come on Chip! Time to get up!" Captain Man zapped him again, nudging the man in the side of the ribs with his boot until started to wake up.

"Did you get enough beauty sleep, Chip." Henry asked, crossing his arms as he glared angrily down at the man. Chip sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes, he wasn't awake enough to deal with Henry's antics.

"Look _Henry_. I wouldn't be trying to get on my bad side if I were you-" Chip started, but Captain Man cut him off, taking half a step in front of his unmasked sidekick to protect him in case Chip tried anything.

"It's not going to matter after I blast you with this..." Captain Man tried to lift the Memory Eraser up with one arm, but it wobbled a little bit and he almost dropped it. Chip shook his head and watched as Captain Man aimed. "... with this!" The hero finished, holding the gadget firmly in the air.

"Oh brother." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Are you two always like this in front of the bad guys?"

"Well from what I've seen…" Chip answered, shooting the hero and sidekick a cheeky grin. Captain Man glared at him.

"I've had just about enough of you!" The hero yelled, firing the Memory Eraser at Chip without giving him the courtesy of a warning or the opportunity for any last coherent words. "Charlotte go take him somewhere."

"Me!?" The girl complained, Captain Man didn't seem to notice her protests.

"Make sure you don't leave until you're sure he doesn't remember anything about you know who being my you know what."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it." Charlotte answered, shaking her head as she grabbed Chip by the ankles and started dragging him towards the elevator. "I don't get paid enough for this." She grumbled as she pushed the 'up' button. When the doors opened, Schwoz stepped off the elevator.

"See you later Charlotte!" He smiled, not seeing anything wrong with the fact that she was dragging a full grown man onto the elevator with her. Charlotte simply shook her head and shot him a dirty look as the doors closed again.

"I think I found a way to bring back your indestructibility!" Schwoz answered, smiling wide as he clasped his hands together.

"Yeah, how's that?" Captain Man asked, popping a gumball into his mouth so he could easily change out of his uniform and back into his everyday clothes.

"With this!" The small man answered, pulling a vile of liquid out of his pocket. "This is from the spray Henry brought to me earlier, but I took out the anti-densitizing properties!"

"Awesome!" Henry went to take the vile out of Schwoz's hand, but the man pulled it away before he could.

"I only have this small bit, it's better if there's less opportunity to drop it." Schwoz explained.

"But, I thought I gave you a whole big bottle of the spray. Where's the rest of it?" The boy asked, his brow furrowing in confusion as he looked at the small amount of liquid in the clear tube.

"It was diluted with water. I don't know how that could have happened. If they wanted to destroy the spray they could have just spilled it out."

"Water?" Henry frowned slightly, realizing that he must've gotten the bottle wet when he was rescuing Captain Man from his prison in the tank of water.

"Well, I'd rather be alive than indestructible." Ray said, resting a hand on Henry's shoulder when he saw the look on the boy's face. "Let's see if this is enough though. What do I have to do Schwoz?"

"Drink it." Schwoz carefully handed the little vile over to Ray and watched as he downed the liquid. Ray shook his head against the bitter taste, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt a dull burning sensation start to pulse through his body and intensify.

"Well? Did it work?" Henry asked, barely able to stand the anticipation as he watched Ray open his eyes and move his body around a little. The man rubbed his right arm, bending it back and forth without pain, a huge smile broke out on his face.

"I think it worked." Ray grinned. He hurried over to the toolbox in the corner, bringing a heavy wrench over to Henry. "Hit me!" Henry looked at the tool for a moment, weighing it in his hand.

"I dunno Ray, what if it didn't work? I don't want to hurt you…"

"I will!" Schwoz chimed in. Without hesitation he took the wrench from Henry and swung at Ray, connecting with the side of his head just above his ear. Ray faltered for just a moment before taking a step forward and dramatically putting his hands on his hips, turning his head just enough so he could smile at Henry.

"I'm okay."

"It worked!" Henry cheered, excitement lighting up his face, but his celebration was cut short by the sound of the emergency signal going off.

"Looks like we have work to do. Come on Kid!" Ray said, taking out his tube of gum and popping a gumball in his mouth. Without hesitation, Henry took his gumballs out too and blew a bubble, hurrying to get under his tube. Captain Man looked over to his sidekick, happy that things were finally starting to get back to normal. "Call it!" Kid Danger smiled slightly, tapping his belt buckle.

"Up the tubes!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well, that's all I have on this one, hope you liked it!**

 **T** **o be honest I feel like I lost this one a little bit between school and everything like that. I'm all graduated now though and I plan on writing a new Henry Danger story. I think that because I have been away from the two stories I planned on writing next I might try to work on a new idea first, but I'll sleep on it and see what I think will work best when I start writing.**

 **Also, I just wanted to thank you all for the faves, follows, and reviews on this story throughout the time I was writing it. I really appreciate all of your support! Hopefully I see you all again through my upcoming stories! Thanks for reading (and putting up with my ridiculous update schedule)!**


End file.
